Most people assume that house hacking means living in a 2 bedroom 1 bath duplex.

Then I work with a local insurance broker give them a valuation of the property, explain that the property is being rented and by how many people.

Starting to get competitive though for investment properties because of that reason you have more and more people entering the market from out of state.

I haven't heard of any, but met with a few people in the twin cities last year.

Which will also depend on the neighborhood.You want to, "rehab/maintain to the Neighborhood".Most investors go overboard on their first rehab and waste a decent amount of money.

I appreciate you listing the steps you took / people you went to in order to fill the gaps.

You will be required to get a foundation inspection report on top of an appraisal and you are required to pay for both.That is why I said make sure you do your research because if you pay for an appraisal or foundation inspection report and its not within guide lines you will have just wasted anywhere from $650 to $1000.00 non refundable.  

(The same reason many people (maybe mostly men?)

Another thing, the threads move down the forums rather quickly because it's so busy, so the odds of your post being seen for long by very many people is minimal. 

Now here is some advice many will disagree with me on but I firmly committed to this:  Most people that use a VA loan shouldn't.